Another Paradise Lost....

For the longest time, all I could make out was darkness in the gloom.

Gradually, my eyes adjusted, and two huge sacks materialized at my feet, struggling to open. Something poked through the thin film, and four creatures flooded out. They flailed like babes, four humans drawing in their first few breaths.

From one sack, a blonde man and woman blinked open their blue eyes. The other sack yielded a brunette man and woman with green eyes.

The scene shifted, and I stood in the most beautiful Garden I had ever seen. Every animal imaginable strolled in harmony with one another. Flowers of all colors and sizes bloomed, a cascading waterfall in a clear blue grotto serving as the centerpiece to this little corner of Paradise.

The blonde couple frolicked in the water, completely natural in their nakedness.

Off in the distance, the dark-haired doppelgangers observed with envious green eyes. They couldn't find solace in the arms of one another, only in the idea of the unobtainable. They wished to lay with their blonde counterparts, but it was forbidden.

Night after night, the brunettes coupled, but it wasn't passion that drove them together. Dark seeds had taken root inside them, an emotion they couldn't name. They conspired for millenia, finally perfecting a plan.

The scene shifted again, focusing on the blonde woman lounging beneath a fruit tree, her male companion nowhere to be seen. A large serpent slithered in the limbs above, engaging her in idle conversation. Normally, such a thing would raise alarms, but in the Garden, conversing with animals was quite an accepted, if not a highly sought-after practice.

Though they spoke an unfamiliar language, I followed their words easily. The woman mentioned that she was hungry. In response, the serpent plucked a ripe, red apple from the bough. He offered it to her, and how could she resist? Yes, it was forbidden, but a wise serpent had deemed her worthy.

After the first bite settled, it was as if a veil had lifted. The hazy, warm glow of the Garden was suddenly a glare of unforgiving sunlight. The sound of the birds was annoying chatter, while the song of the waterfall could not be heard at all.

Disconcerted, the woman wiped at her eyes, alarmed when her fingers came away wet.

Recognizing his opportunity, the dark-haired man rushed to her side. The magic of the safe-haven was broken, that much they agreed upon. She wept against his naked chest, oblivious to his hands running up and down her back.

A caress here, a kiss there, a stroke inside, and soon, the woman clung to the tree as he violated her from behind. She began to whimper, and over the howling wind, I heard a faint moan, "Samael."

At the culmination of his ecstasy, Samael threw his head back, howling in triumph. Red clouded his vision,
and in attaining the forbidden, in causing the object of his sin to sin as well, he transcended beyond his mortal status.

Before, when he had metamorphasized into the serpent, it had not been a true change. He had merely ingested the animal, meditated, and willed himself to change. But this was a true reversal of himself, the ultimate rebellion. As he reached a new status, his eyes glazed over, and he found that he was looking through silver pools....

His feral grunts and violent movements scared the woman. She tore away from him, meeting his silver eyes for a moment before fleeing.

Nearby in the grotto, the blonde man bathed alone. When the blonde woman's veil had lifted, so had his. Instinctively, he knew there was something wrong happening to his love, that there something wrong with this place now, but he couldn't name it.

Behind him, he heard his name being called softly.

Adam.

The dark-haired woman.

Water from the falls cascaded in between her breasts. Adam's eyes followed the droplets that trickled over the hills and valleys of her body. He found it hard to look away, although he had never cared for her before.

She moved closer to him and a red streak of desire ran through him. He seized her by the hips, bent her over a nearby rock and began thrusting into her.

I turned away, not caring to hear any more of their grunts.

When I turned back a moment later, new events transpired.

The humans slunked along a barren wasteland. An unseen force had driven them from their Garden home. Though they wandered, they didn't wander together. The brunettes went east, while the blondes followed the setting sun, eventually settling in an area full of grassy fields and favorable weather conditions. The brunettes trudged through a desolate desert before finding a Sahara full of water and shade.

The couples' lifestyle choices proved to be as varied as their surroundings. The blonde pair, Adam and Eve, hunted animals as needed, hesitant to ingest creatures they had once considered friends, but their guilt abated once they discovered fruit trees.

The dark-haired pair, Lillith and Samael, had no scruples about consuming animal flesh. While in the Garden, their diet consisted of fruit and vegetables. Ever since Samael engineered the Awakening, the dark pair's appetite had changed. They were never full, even after consuming every part of the animal, including the blood. They took down larger and larger mammals, forsaking all else but the blood, which was the only sustenance that filled them. With each feeding, the silver in their eyes spread, creating bottomless pools.

Meanwhile, Adam and Even built a life around farming. Their modest home and loving children were the center of their world. The perfection and betrayals they had experienced in the Garden were already fading, with the love from their familial roles filling them up.

Hundreds of miles away, Lilith and Samael created something else. Opulent in its design, their world was devoid of love. Because their diet changed dramatically, so did their human shells. Their skin hardened like ice, and though days, weeks, and years passed, they didn't age. Immortality was a familiar perk from centuries in the Garden. They were unaware their blonde counterparts were aging, albeit much more slowly than their children. Adam and Eve lived to see five generations of grandchildren before finally dying of natural causes.

Since their thoughts, feelings, and actions were out of sync with every living thing around them, Lillith and Samael became something more, but not necessarily something better than human. In order to sustain their new state, animal blood was a must. They discovered that human blood tasted much sweeter, containing properties which strengthened and increased cognition. By night, they hunted for men, women, and children in the nearby villages. Their village was a sprawling city, filled with their spawn, which numbered in the thousands. Each child was imbued with their parent's gifts, as well as a few powers specific only to them. At the rate Lillith and Samael reproduced, it seemed as if their blood children would overrun the Earth.

A few millennia after the blondes perished, Lillith and Samael still thrived. The city that had sprung up around them was rife with thieves, whores, and vagrants, the only humans uncaring enough to live among silver-eyed demons. They revered the demons as gods, and longed for a bloody embrace, or better yet, an erotic embrace. A coupling between a demon and a human produced sub-humans. The host (or human) was soon infected, their yearning for human blood becoming prevalent as soon as their eyes pooled over with silver.

I wondered how and if their rampant behaviors would ever be put in check. As soon as the thought passed through my brain, a lone wanderer materialized at the gates of the city. A glow lit his skin, fading as he walked past the gates into the heart of the city. There could be no doubt as to who he was looking for.

From shop doors and windows, curious silver eyes glinted at the stranger meandering through their streets. Most city residents were barely clothed, but their flesh did nothing to tempt him. He was on a mission.

So odd was his presence that no one stopped him, and he made it all the way to the chambers of the king and queen. Lillith and Samael smiled at their new visitor.

The stranger didn't smile back. He withdrew a sword, its jeweled hilt contrasting with the rest of his unadorned attire.

Iridescent flames licked up the blade. Both Lillith and Samael's smiles faded at the sight of the mystical weapon, which the man swept through the air in a large arc. Seconds later, the flames spread from the sword, filling every room and building in the city. The fire obliterated everyone and everything in a flash, leaving no time for screams or escape. Then, like a rubber band snapping, the flames retracted back to the sword. Ashes danced around the thrones that had supported the forms of Lillith and Samael. Miraculously, the sword bearer was unscarred.

He held his position, sword overhead, breathing calmly. By and by, he seemed unconcerned about the mass murder he had committed.

A good while later, he made his way out of town.

Two shadows hovered high above the new ghost-town. I knew the shadows were the physical manifestations of Lillith's and Samael's spirits.

Either through a will of their own or a will of the wind, the shadows drifted, settling over the nearest town. Day after day, night after night, the shadows trailed after people, causing mischief. Lillith enjoyed influencing pregnant women, morphing their dreams into nightmares. Samael had a much darker streak, fueled by intense apathy. To feel something, anything, he resorted to physical and mental torture. The screams, cries, and the begging of others struck a chord in him. People were easy to corrupt, and easy to hate. Whispering in their ear was a favorite trick of his. After, he would sit back and watch events unfold that he had pushed into motion. He chuckled when they called him Abaddon, or Devil.

One day, a healer recognized the shadows for what they were: beings of a higher consciousness. She spread the word, and the town fell to their knees in adoration. They erected statues and temples to honor the new gods. Lillith and Samael soaked up the blind worship, which sustained them, much like the blood had. They gathered strength and appeared to a stunned patron, demanding a sacrifice.

The incense and violence of the ritual increased their power, and their craving for human blood. During subsequent sacrifices, they absorbed as much blood as possible, sussing out human imperfections. While they had feared their time was over, they were now certain if humans could perceive their presence, then perhaps certain humans would be suitable hosts. It was all in the blood.

After cementing their goals, they flitted from town to town, never staying for more than a few centuries. They kept up the godly pretense, appearing before shamans and priests. In time, they appeared in Egyptian, Sumerian, and Anglo-Saxon cultures. Time held no meaning, and they were happy with their place as demi-gods. Still, when their efforts produced no host, they moved onto the Americas, settling in the Florida peninsula and meeting the Uzitans.

This part of the story was no mystery to me, but it was illuminating to view it from another perspective. The Uzita shamans were easily duped and corruptible. They were not surprised when a chieftain offered his own daughter for sacrifice, and a sampling of her blood effectively ended their search. At the behest of their gods, the Uzita males repeatedly raped the woman in an attempt to impregnate her a second time. Within weeks, their efforts garnered a success.

Once she gave birth, Lillith and Samael had the human bodies they had coveted for so long. Every Uzita was ready to show their loyalty to their tangible gods.

Thousands of years spent in an ethereal state had instilled patience. They were willing to slowly build influence as to not attract too much undue attention. None of their subtleties mattered when de Soto came upon their camp. He had enough insight to know that the demons had to be stopped. While reading Ortiz's journal, he came across as an insane zealot intent on murdering innocent Native Americans. Incidentally, de Soto had been right about the demons, zealot or not.

The culmination of images faded, and I was left in the clearing with Rosalind as if nothing had transpired.

For a long, long time, I said nothing.

Then I asked, "What do I have to do?"

****

A/N: Imogen was thoroughly convinced. Now the next part of her (second) life begins!

Thanks to all the new readers and followers, especially  for your reads, votes, and support! I'll send all the readers I can to your fantasy work, Sweet War :D

https://www.wattpad.com/story/51095040-sweet-war